Descendents descend down under

Written by The Barman on 30 January 2017.

Back in Australia for the first time since 2012, punk rock pioneers Descdents are touring next month in support of their new album, “Hypercaffium Spazzinate”.

Many say that the Descendents invented pop punk. t. They perfected the warp-speed amalgam of adolescent angst, snotty attitude and championship melody infesting the airways today. They took a genre that was about spikes, chaos and anarchy, and brought it to earth, singing about girls, growing up and food.

Formed in 1978 against the fertile musical backdrop of Los Angeles’ South Bay scene (Black Flag, Minutemen etc), the caffeine-addled crew were less interested in social movements than bowel movements, with Rolling Stone declaring, “Descedents are the most playful group to emerge from the SoCal hardcore scene”.

Fast forward to 2016, and lo and the band is back in the saddle with the release of their first full length in 12 years, “Hypercaffium Spazzinate” – a nod to Descendents' well-documented coffee obsession. Sure, the guys are now writing as adults – in the loosest sense of the term, but there’s a renewed sense of punk rock energy here. It’s faster, more reckless, and more intense.